Washington State forward Aljaz Kunc (4) just misses coming down with a rebound to Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) in the first half of their Pac 12 game at McKale Center Tucson, Ariz., February 25, 2021.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

The waiting is the hardest part

If you turned on Fox Sports 1 at 9 p.m. Thursday hoping to watch the Arizona game, you saw some familiar faces — though none of them are current Wildcats.

Former UA players Emmanuel Akot and Devonaire Doutrive, both now playing at Boise State, were in a back-and-forth in on overtime game against San Diego State. The Mountain West Conference thriller forced the postponement of the Arizona-Washington State game by 15 minutes. The first few minutes of UA-Washington State game aired on Fox Sports 2, preempting a replay of last year's fight between Errol Spence and Danny Garcia.

Doutrive is averaging 8 points and 20 minutes per game for the Broncos, while Akot is scoring 7.5 points and playing 23 minutes per game. The duo combined to score 19 points in Thursday's 78-66 loss to the Aztecs.

Gametime decisions

Moments before tipoff Thursday, Arizona ruled out freshman guard Kerr Kriisa with a groin injury and Washington State welcomed back guard Isaac Bonton.

Kriisa was scratched from the game less than 30 minutes before the start. The Estonian freshman had hit eight 3-pointers over his last three games.

Bonton, the third-highest scorer in the Pac-12, rejoined the Cougars after being out the previous six games with an ankle injury.

Monday's tip-off time set

Monday's game against Oregon in Eugene, a make-up game from the postponed contest on Jan. 16, is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

It is, as it stands today, the final game of Arizona's 2020-21 season. The UA's self-imposed postseason ban means the Wildcats won't play in the Pac-12 or NCAA Tournaments.

The Wildcats lost the first game of the 2021 series to Oregon, and have fallen to the Ducks six consecutive times. That's secondary to the fact that Arizona gets to play at all.

“We just want to play games,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “If we can play our entire Pac-12 Conference schedule ,and it looks like we’re going to be able to do that, that in itself is quite the achievement and I’m happy for our players simply because we don’t have a postseason. If we can play all of our Pac-12 Conference games, that’s a good thing.”

Williams returns to McKale Center

Former Arizona forward Corey Williams returned to McKale Center for the first time since last season. Williams, a member of the 1994 Final Four team, served as an in-person color analyst on the FS1 broadcast.

Broadcasting at alma maters isn’t anything new: Jay Bilas has called countless Duke games over his multi-decade analyst career on ESPN. Williams said it isn't hard to be objective when calling the Cats. It “isn’t weird at all," he said. "It’s actually fun.”

“Arizona has a pretty knowledgeable fan base, so you can get into the details of the game. I’ve done close to 200 games, this is my third time calling a UA game,” Williams said. “No different approach at all. You call what you see and break it down for the viewers. How they feel about what they see is not something you can worry about. That’s what makes them fans.”

Williams has also worked games for the ESPN family of networks during the pandemic-affected season. That network's broadcasts are done remotely. Williams’ home broadcast booth features a framed picture of his playing days at McKale Center, his Batavia (Illinois) High School jersey, a UA team photo, Arizona plaques and an ovular Nike “Just Do It Arizona” sign in the background.

No stranger to dapper suits — and bowties — Williams has taken a more casual approach this season. He wore a polo shirt, jeans and a light blue mask to McKale on Thursday.

“I'll wear a polo with some shorts and flip-flops. It’s cool,” said Williams. “I’ve saved a ton on my dry-cleaning this season, although I do miss getting dressed up.”

The big number

9

Years since an ex-Wildcat was named an NBA All-Star. Andre Iguodala made it in 2012 while with the Philadelphia 76ers. This year, four Pac-12 products were named to the rosters: Nets star James Harden (Arizona State), Celtics wing Jaylen Brown (Cal), Magic center Nikola Vucevic (USC) and Zach LaVine (UCLA).

He said it

“That was wild. What do they call it now, in the zone or something? We called it getting hot then. I couldn’t miss. I tried to miss one time — I mean, I didn’t try real hard, but I was just lackadaisical … and the crowd was yelling. I didn’t realize I had broken a record until after the game and then I was mobbed by all these kids. I’m child-oriented and I just remember these kids holding on to my arm and I couldn’t sign their autographs, because they were hugging my arms. That was just an incredible evening. … I say this to people and they think I’m kidding, I’m not praying someone breaks the record, but I really wouldn’t mind, because it would be fun for someone to have the thrill of that.”

— Former Wildcat Ernie McCray, who will be inducted into Arizona’s Ring of Honor this week, on scoring a program-record 46 points against Cal State-L.A. on Feb. 6, 1960

Wazzu players kneel during national anthem

Every Washington State player knelt during the playing of the national anthem on Thursday. The Cougars are the first team to kneel in McKale Center this season.

Theo Lawson of The Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman Review, the Cougars have knelt during the national anthem in 14 of the last 15 contests. The only game WSU didn't kneel was a Jan. 14 game at UCLA.

The protest popularized by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has become increasingly common at the college and pro levels in recent years.

The Cougars have the support of their athletic director.

"They’re empowered to make decisions for the right reasons, and I support them 100% if their will and desire says that’s how they want to peacefully send a unified message out,” Wazzu AD Pat Chun told The Spokesman Review. “… To me, they were hurting, they saw what was going on around the country and decided to have a unified message.”

Another big number

29

Points scored by BYU guard Alex Barcello scored in Thursday night's 79-73 win over San Francisco in Provo. In 35 minutes against the Dons, Barcello — a UA transfer — canned all seven of his 3-point attempts and shot 10 of 13 from the field. This season, Barcello is averaging 15.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.

The Phoenix-area native and Tempe Corona del Sol High School product was a part of Arizona's 2017 recruiting class that featured four early departures: Top NBA draft pick Deandre Ayton, Brandon Randolph (turned pro), Barcello (to BYU) and Emmanuel Akot (to Boise State). The only member of the '17 class still at the UA is senior forward Ira Lee, who could be playing his final games at McKale Center this week.

— Justin Spears and Alec White

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